{"id":2479,"date":"2019-12-12T16:46:19","date_gmt":"2019-12-12T07:46:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tsumugu-admin.yomiuri.co.jp\/en\/?p=2479"},"modified":"2019-12-13T10:12:56","modified_gmt":"2019-12-13T01:12:56","slug":"eugene-chaplin-meets-chaplin-kabuki","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tsumugu.yomiuri.co.jp\/en\/feature\/eugene-chaplin-meets-chaplin-kabuki\/","title":{"rendered":"Eugene Chaplin sees Koshiro\u2019s Chaplin kabuki at the National Theatre in Tokyo"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Eugene Chaplin, the fifth child and fourth son of Charlie Chaplin (1889-1977) came to the National Theatre in Tokyo on Wednesday (Dec. 11, 2019) to see kabuki star Matsumoto Koshiro X (the tenth) perform \u201cKomori no Yasusan (Yasu, the Bat),\u201d a kabuki theater adaptation of \u201cCity Lights,\u201d the much admired silent romantic comedy from the 1930\u2019s featuring Chaplin\u2019s famous Tramp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cKomori no Yasusan\u201d was first performed in the kabuki theater in August 1931, barely a month after a serial novel by the same title started running on The Yomiuri Shimbun, the national daily now operating the TSUMUGU: Japan Art & Culture web portal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s surprising is that the novel, which based its story on \u201cCity Lights,\u201d appeared three years before the silent film premiered in Japan in 1934.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Playwright Kinka Kimura had collected tidbits of the film and learned that the story involved a tramp who fell in love with a blind flower girl. Observing that Chaplin\u2019s Tramp had similarities with Komori no Yasugoro, a widely known character from the kabuki world, the writer decided to adapt the story into a novel with Yasusan as its protagonist. The kabuki adaptation was based on this novel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eugene, who saw the Wednesday matinee, visited Koshiro on stage after the performance and gave the kabuki star a pat on the back saying he was \u201cvery touched.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Koshiro cordially responded by saying, \u201cIt had always been my dream to play this role and I\u2019m really glad I\u2019m finally doing it.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Charlie Chaplin visited Japan for the first time in 1932, he went to the Kabukiza Theatre in Tokyo and had met Koshiro\u2019s great grandfather, the then Nakamura Kichiemon. Knowing his father\u2019s great fondness for kabuki, Eugene seemed rather emotional.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLike the original City Lights, it was very funny, the humor was there, the emotion was there … there\u2019s nothing much else to say … it was perfect!\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asked if he was reminded of his father watching Koshiro perform, Eugene said: \u201cHere is living proof that (Chaplin movies) can be transported to different cultures and still be funny. He (Koshiro) added the Japanese touch to it, but kept the Chaplin spirit.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Koshiro had his angle: \u201cOn stage, it doesn\u2019t feel like I\u2019m performing something of foreign origin.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eugene later added that the final scene gave him the goose bumps. He is convinced that if the performance goes to Europe, \u201cPeople will like it and recognize it.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Matsumoto Koshiro X\u2019s \u201cKomori no Yasusan\u201d performance at the National Theatre commemorating the 130th anniversary of Charlie Chaplin\u2019s birth will last until Dec. 26.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Program A, which includes \u201cOmi Genji Senjin Yakata: Moritsuna Jin\u2019ya\u201d starring Koshiro\u2019s father Matsumoto Hakuo, will open every day (except Dec. 13) at 11:30 a.m.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Program B, or Chaplin KABUKI NIGHT, which features \u201cKomori no Yasusan,\u201d will open at 7:00 p.m. on Dec. 13, Dec. 20, Dec. 24 and Dec. 25.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*No subtitles available.
*English synopsis is included in the paid Japanese program. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For further information and tickets:<\/h6>\n\n\n\n